Monday’s digest – China looks to welfare, Manchester United looks at leverage, and the BCC looks at the UK’s tax on jobs.

8 Mar 2010 [0 Comments | 187 views]

It’s all kicking off in China. Maybe at last the economy behind the Great Wall is starting to see things the Western way. Well, at least partially, anyway. It was the time of the annual state of the nation address from China’s Premier, Wen Jiabao. As you know, the problem in China is that the economy produces more [...]
Solid oxide fuel cells: they look like batteries, they are hot, and they may solve the fuel crisis

4 Mar 2010 [0 Comments | 247 views]

With all the doom and gloom floating about at the moment, it is easy to fall into a pit of despair. Let’s face it, there’s a lot that’s wrong with the economy. And with the baby boomers retirement getting closer, it is difficult to see how the economy will cope. This column has argued over and [...]
Man Utd lose business goal against Spain, but super sub from Goldman Sachs may save the day

2 Mar 2010 [0 Comments | 180 views]

Football is in the mainstream news again, and this time it has nothing to do with John Terry or Ashley and Cheryl Cole. First off, the latest rankings of the world’s richest football clubs are out. Secondly, it seems Manchester United may be changing owners, with Man U fan, not to mention Goldman Sachs guru, Jim [...]
UK not the only basket case. ONS stats mislead, and so does RBS profit figures

1 Mar 2010 [1 Comment | 222 views]

Everything seemed to go back to front over the weekend On Friday, legendary investor Jim Rogers was reported as saying the UK was a basket case. The ONS revised its estimate of the UK’s GDP upwards, and RBS made profits of £5.7 billion. That Monday morning feeling has bitten deep. For it appears that just about everything [...]
Friday snippets – House price recovery stutters, and Goldman comes under Bernanke antenna

26 Feb 2010 [0 Comments | 97 views]

If there’s a correlation between the amount of news and the economy’s woes, then now is the time to worry. There is simply too much happening at the moment to squeeze it all in. Goldman Sachs is in trouble again. The issues at the bank were referred to here the other day; see: Will Goldman Sachs [...]
Google boxes with shadow of protectionism

26 Feb 2010 [1 Comment | 153 views]

We now know the markets don’t always get it right. For one thing, madness of crowds can infect markets; that is why we get economic bubbles, and that is why we got mortgage securitisation and the credit crunch. We should know that markets can send us down a blind alley. For years the UK economy grew [...]
Is Toyota a victim of bullying?

23 Feb 2010 [0 Comments | 157 views]

It seems there is no sign of an end to the bullying. Despite the media’s spotlight, lapels are still be shaken. There have been no official complaints yet, just a whiff here and a hint there that there’s more to come. The US government may be the worst culprit. The media are to blame too. Yes, [...]
The PR behind is a Toyota

22 Feb 2010 [5 Comments | 308 views]

It’s a strange thing about Japan. Twenty years ago the economy of the rising sun seemed unbeatable. One of the features of the Japanese economy, or so we were told, which was so much superior, was the way banks and business worked so closely together. They had a symbiotic relationship, or so they said. If [...]
Are we seeing the end of free?

8 Feb 2010 [2 Comments | 314 views]

There is this theory knocking around that we may be entering a new, somewhat sad world on the Internet. The Internet is quite a beast. It’s uncontrollable and unpredictable and it has thrown up some extraordinary ideas – it is much like the latter day equivalent of the Wild West. But could that era be set [...]
Monday Digest

8 Feb 2010 [0 Comments | 175 views]

Uncle Sam sees cure as productivity surgesAnd UK wages set to fall But producers see costs rise Toyota plan in disarray   Uncle Sam sees cure as productivity surges US productivity surged by a stunning 6.2 per cent (on an annualized basis) in the fourth quarter. Actually that was down slightly from the previous quarter when annualised productivity was [...]